Pharmaceutical and biotechnology major Wockhardt on Monday said it would invest Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) for setting up a research and development centre in Aurangabad.

The company also said it would launch its injectible long acting insuline, Glargine, in India by late 2006 or early 2007.

"We are setting up an R&D centre at Aurangabad," Habil Khorakiwala, chairman Wockhardt, said on the sidelines of the global conference on 'India R&D 2005 - The World's Knowledge Hub of the Future'.

He said the company would be investing Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) for the purpose. Commenting on the company's products in pipeline, Khorakiwala said Wockhardt would be launching its generic version of Glargine by late 2006 or early 2007.

The innovator company for Glargine is Aventis. It is a form of longer acting insulin, which is slowly absorbed and, therefore, the effects for the dose can last longer.